re:Alcoholism

When I was a young kid my Dad used to give me booze in my bottle to put me to sleep, so I'm sure that's where it started, but it runs in the family and I need to learn how to stop, but it's HARD!


I'm 34 years old and I have been drinking EVERY day since large amounts the other day I had to goto the hospital to be treated and what they said there is a chart that they measure the the alcky in a chart 0 - 500 80 being intoxicated and 500 being fatal. My question is HOW did YOU stop drinking I can't go cold turkey I'm down from about 30-40 beers a day and a bottle to 6 beers a day If I don't drink I see things I shake uncontrollably but I just don't think I can stop.



Any Ideas all are welcome?

Thanks, Glan

[edit on 21-9-2009 by glan]

reply to post by glan


I don't have a drink problem so my answer is 'I don't know'. I can listen though!

I did go cold turkey with cigarettes a year ago. That took convincing my self (if that makes sense) over a 2 - 3 week period prior to quitting that I just did not want or need to smoke again - and it worked. Use every opportunity to reinforce the message to yourself. (I have quit nothing per se, and gained alot - this is an important part of the thought process).

As with your addiction, can I suggest that it would help if you could discuss when and why you first started to drink uncontrollably and possibly take it from there? You may find that other people could relate to it.

Best regards.

Edit to add - just noticed the when and why part!

[edit on 21-9-2009 by Breifne]

My Dad got me drinking young to be honest I guess I just picked up on it I have been drinking ever since I can remember (when I could get someone to buy it for me), or when a GF brought over her moms vodka.

I tried the Cold Turkey way I went to the hospital but when I got home I could not manage so I drank.

thanks for your reply

GJ on going cold turkey on smoking

I have control issues with every substance I have submitted myself to. However, I've never had DTs or anything like that.

Problems are different for everyone. Please go get yourself help immediately. Your liver cannot handle what you are doing to it. Calm yourself down and get yourself into rehab asap. It controls you, take back your life. No one on this board or any other can tell you what to do, you must force it upon yourself.

I agree I need help I got a sponsor and I'm only drinking 6 beers a day to get rid of the DT's then I'm going to cut down to 5 etc... Not sure if it will work last time I went to rehab I shook so bad they made an example of me then I passed out on my face from no medicine to help with the DT's I have sucky insurance and they won't pay for a decent rehab I'm stuck between a rock and a rock so to speak.

You don't need insurance for city programs. They will give you the drugs you need to kick the alcohol, and then you will go off of them. As far as I'm told you're basically asleep the first few days.

Who cares about money? This is life man. Money means nothing here. You have to help you.

reply to post by glan


Wise words from SC. I also have substance issues, mainly alcohol and from my experience you need rehab. Call the county health authorities and explain your plight. They can help! Call AA and they also can help get you into a treatment facility.

I've been going through this with my son, he's in recovery and he's only 22.

I don't know your situation but anytime my son would try to quit, he would hallucinate and have crippling panic attacks. Cold turkey was not the way to go in his case and I doubt it is in yours. You need to have someone you trust with you as you start to go through this. Seizures are possible.

In his case, the city programs sucked. About the only way to get into rehab without money (around here) is to get in trouble with the law, then rehab is court ordered. If you are really really bad, you can usually get detoxed at a hospital and they will give you librium. Librium is an old drug and it will make you a bit loopy/spacey but it works and it is cost effective.

There are some good medicines out there but they are pricey. They have a shot, that lasts for a month (also pill form) that will make you deathly ill if you try to drink liquor. They say you can't even be around aftershave or use mouthwash. There is also a pill you can take for actual cravings.

There is also AA and if you are making a commitment to yourself and your loved ones - this is definately the way to go. You need the best support system you can get and what better support than to be around people that are going through exactly what you are. How many meetings you do is up to yourself. Some go only once a week, some twice and some do 90 in 90 (90 meetings in 90 days).

I don't know if you are a functional alcoholic (able to hold down a steady job) but if you are then you are already one step ahead of the game. Your whole body and mind needs to change because it's been poisened for so long. AA is not only good for support but it can aid in addressing underlying issues/problems that affect your overall mental health. You are young and should be able to find an inexpensive gym for your physical welfare and if you really want to see progress find a good church, which will address your spiritual needs.

Everything about you has to change. More than likely even the people you affiliate with has to change. The people you think are your friends are nothing but enablers. This is your life, you can take charge and you can do this - you can change.

Alcohol detox can kill, my friend. Different things work for different folks. I haven't ever tried the 'weening' myself off of something. I have the type of personality that rationalizes too much.

I would agree that you need, at least at first, professional help. You MUST detox in a safe environment...one where they are not going to make an example of you.

I have lost several friends to alcoholism. I'm pretty sure I was born an addict. With help, it's been quite a few years for me. I know you can do it too and there are people that care enough to be there for you.

You have to make some calls, my friend. It's ok to need some help sometimes. It's ok to ask for some help sometimes too. You can do it.

Yep I agree with KSPigpen, going cold turkey for a serious drinker can have all sorts of mental and physical reactions - even the sudden onset of overwhelming depression can be fatal to some people because of actions they may carry out.

You really need to plan ahead for that part, and after - really professional help would be best. There are certain meds that can help with the effects if a doctor thinks you need them.

Good luck buddy - you know the 1st step is admitting

sorry this post is so much later than it is


Start CLEANSING your body out!

Eat all natural organic foods, like broccoli, baby spinach, horseradish etc,

take spicy things,

get endorphins going. IF you were drinking that much, i guess you werent working, so time to start working out,

Take on a sense of mission to get your body healthy. Once your body is ultra healthy, go help out some other people for awhile

drop all negative influecnes in your life.

IF you beleive in God, pray for his grace to enter your ilfe. Dont life by lealism, just ask for his grace day to day.

Try and be as classy as possible (i Have alcoholiosm in my family, and if I just have 1 glass of wine when im out, everyone thinks Im classy

I'm really not qualified to give advice, but what I can do is relate to your problem. I am an alcoholic who has since reformed myself into a semi-functioning person. I drink, and every time I feel that tug of need, I mercilessly cut myself off for a period.

It didn't start that way though. I realize this is your thread, but perhaps there is something useful in what I went through.

I drank a lot and often. It cost me my job, and ultimately my home. I did it, and the rock bottom wasn't living on the streets, the rock bottom was realizing that the alcohol wasn't to blame, nor my enabling "friends", nor anyone else. It was me.

A BIG help for me was to discover some of my triggers that really allowed me to justify a big jolt "just this once and no more". Yep. My triggers were self-recrimination, cigarette smoking, driving, lonliness and a whole raft of other things. I stopped smoking before I quit drinking. That was very hard, and didn't really fill me with a lot of hope. I started walking instead of driving, and made it a point to drink in a bar, rather than alone at home, even though it was more expensive.

I was making progress, I thought, and then used a breakup with a woman who was sick of my crap as an excuse to wallow in my own filth and self-pity. I got kicked out of my apartment and lived in my POS car. Many hard knocks followed.

I got a couple of dollars together one day, and just drove away from the city (Los Angeles), and ended up in the San Bernardino mountains. I stayed out there on the fringe of civilization for almost a month, and man I was sick and I was a mess. I left the POS car there, and I wish I had it today -- '61 Comet, a brown batmobile, classic.

I'm not suggesting anything so radical, and I'm sure as I'm sitting here that those telling you that help outside our yourself is both needed and time-tested. I guess I just want to instill the thought that it's always seemed to me that in the final analysis, my need to be someone else that I imagined had to be great enough to make it happen. There were tons of people that helped me, and without them I doubt I'd have survived.

I drink homemade wine mostly. It's not the best, it's not the worst. Every once in a while I go overboard and I'm just not the kind of person that can do that too often. The stakes are too great.

U2U if you think there is anything I can do to help or just to listen. I can't promise you anything except confidentiality.

Be well. You can do it. peace